Showers in common use consist essentially of a relatively smaller enclosure or stall which has a shower arm and head protruding from a wall, and which is closeable by a shower curtain or by a sliding or swinging door. Typically, an enclosure includes three walls (in the case of a lateral wall enclosure) or two walls (in the case of a corner enclosure) to define a showering/bathing area. The enclosure walls can be tiled or made of a water resistant material, such as glass or plastic. An opening to the enclosure is generally closed off by a door or curtain, which allows entry into the enclosure while preventing water from splashing outside the enclosure.
In addition to bar soap or liquid soap and wash cloths customarily used by people in bathroom showers, a variety of other articles related to personal hygiene are frequently used when showering. Such articles include containers of shampoo and hair conditioner, lotions, shavers, shaving cream, combs, brushes, and the like. While some shower enclosures are provided with one or more small shelves or ledges on which such personal hygiene items may be placed, many shower enclosures are devoid of any convenient location of adequate size for storing such items. Moreover, the shelves or ledges provided in typical shower enclosures tend to be relatively small, thereby affording insufficient space for storing articles without the likelihood of the articles being accidentally dislodged and falling to the floor of the shower enclosure.
It is known to mount accessory fixtures inside a bathing enclosure. Common accessories include shelves, dishes, racks and hooks for holding various personal hygiene items, such as soaps, hair products, shaving implements, and cloths. These accessories are typically permanently mounted to the enclosure walls and/or the door using anchored fasteners or waterproof adhesives. Alternatively, they may be integrally formed with the enclosure wall. Once the accessory is mounted in place it cannot be relocated easily, and even if it were re-installed elsewhere, the unsightly damage done to the original mounting surface would become visible.
It is desirable to have an assortment of bathing items readily accessible when taking a shower. Numerous article supporting devices, commonly called shower caddies, have been developed to support such items so that a person taking a shower can grasp the items without having to bend down or otherwise exert him or herself. A “shower caddy” is one such accessory, which includes a hook or strap that fits around the spout of the showerhead. The shower caddy has one or more small shelves typically used to hold shampoo bottles and razors.
Shower caddies have evolved over the past decade with increased popularity based on convenience and design choice. Most art-recognized devices are suspended from the shower arm or pipe, which extends from the wall of a bath area. Representative examples are described in Stroh U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,966. Each shower caddy of this type utilizes a mounting technique that restricts the caddy to a single location defined by the shower head. The overall design is not practical for many applications where faucets and soap dishes present obstacles to efficient installation. Uneven loads cause some caddies of this general design to swing from the shower head pivot. Other configurations require aesthetically displeasing mounting apparatus, which detract from the overall appearance of the surrounding area.
Certain prior art corner caddies are held in place with double-faced pressure sensitive tape. An example of this limited design is illustrated by Smith U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,310. The caddy device is necessarily mounted in a corner of the bath area. Conventional adhesives make the caddy difficult to reposition or remove for cleaning or replacement. Many adhesives fail in a humid environment causing the “loaded” caddy to fall off the mounting surface.
Several known devices have used suction cups to prevent free movement of a suspended caddy. The prior art designs generally provide for suction cups mounted on a caddy post extending in a direction perpendicular to the suction cup face. These expedients offer little strength under normal loading conditions and are insufficient by themselves to mount a caddy with any degree of reliability.
Caddies used in the bathroom are typically configured to hang on the shower arm by means of an extension or opening at the top whereby the unit is slipped onto the shower arm in a hanging position. This method of attachment is inherently unstable since it allows the unit to slide down the shower arm and, when bumped or knocked, to fall off the arm completely. Another method of hanging involves a hook formed as a half-circle having approximately the same diameter as the shower arm so that the hook will snap onto and mold itself around the shower arm. Since the hook grips the arm or pipe onto which it is hung, the attachment is slightly more secure than the first method described; however, the hook will easily unsnap when bumped or knocked, often breaking because of lack of elasticity and pliability. In addition, if the weight of the items placed on a caddy thus hung is not evenly distributed; the caddy will tend to hang in a lopsided position, often causing the items to fall off. Some caddies provide suction cups facing the shower wall to prevent the uneven distribution of the weight from causing the caddy to assume such lopsided position, but the cups rarely function well because of the grout grooves between tiles.
While some of the shower caddies allow for some position adjustment, many are somewhat unstable and some may interfere with entering and exiting the enclosure. Moreover, the degree of adjustment is typically quite limited.
The various caddy devices should overcome the shortcomings and drawbacks of prior art designs, while accommodating the requirements of modern lifestyles. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shower caddy device, which is capable of convenient installation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a shower caddy that has shelves that can be readily removed from a frame and can be securely reattached in substantially any order. Also, the new shower caddy device should be easily manufactured and assembled. In addition, there is a need for a shower caddy that is portable or can be relocated and also can stably support both large and small bathing items.
The present invention alleviates the above-described problems by providing a wall hanging and snap-in mechanism that can be adjusted to fit a shower wall to achieve a very secure attachment.